The ONYX Chronicles: Volume 1
by Mangy-Mutt-Studios
Summary: This is a complete redux of Volume 1 of our Team ONYX Series. This means that it has been completely overhauled grammatically, and thus provides for a much smoother and more enjoyable read! It also touches on some extra details that we sort of glossed over in the past. We have done this to prepare for Volume 2 of this series! We really hope you enjoy what we have in store!
1. Character Introduction: Odin Longbow

I had been walking through these dimly lit alley ways for what had felt like an eternity. My house (or at least the place that I liked to call a house) couldn't have been that far away by now. I had definitely made the walk from Signal Academy to my house many times before, but this time just seemed to be taking much longer for whatever reason. With that said, I had a feeling that I knew why. It had been two long months since I had sent my admission letter to Beacon Academy, and I was supposed to be receiving the letter stating whether or not I were to be accepted any day now. It didn't exactly help that mail didn't run that often in the slums of Vale, so knowing that my letter might have been waiting for me was something of a nerve shock. In fact, I think the butterfly's in my stomach were finally beginning to get the best of me. My stomach was in knots to say in the least. I had been training for four excruciating years at Signal Academy in hopes that I could one day become the huntsmen that I had always wanted to be. Hell, to this very day I would still make trips down to the old sparring arenas so I could at least keep my skills sharp. You see, I grew up an orphan in the slums of vale, never knowing my parents and never knowing the sweet freedom that was adoption. When I was younger I would always ask the caretakers if they knew anything of my parents, but all I would ever receive were blank stares or averting eyes. At first, I thought that they were simply trying to spare my feelings, but it was later when I had learned that they simply were as unaware as I was. I was apparently dropped off in the night with nothing more than a blanket and a small crib. The old lady who ran the place, Mrs. Taylor, just found me quietly sitting there. Usually this would mess with someone's mindset, and I had to admit that it definitely didn't help me in certain aspects, but I had learned to at least respect the place for what it was. Because, in the end, it was a nicer orphanage. They treated the kids right and everyone was properly taken care of. As I grew older I began to help out around the place, the caretakers even giving me a regular monthly paycheck for all the hours I would put in. I even found myself growing attached to some of the kids there. However, eventually they would always leave, so I had learned to not get overly attached. It was four years ago when I discovered Signal Academy, and two years into that when I learned of Beacon: One of the greatest huntsmen academies this side of Remnant. Ever since then I have always wanted to work towards that goal of both leaving this place and bettering myself. I knew all too well that becoming a huntsman would be more than hard for me, but I also knew that it would probably be the best decision that I could ever make. I mean, I was beyond the age of adoption at this point, and the caretakers had been supporting my choice since the very beginning, some even pitching in to help me study or train. So, with all of this said, with all of the hard work and determination that I had put in during these past four years, I would be damned if that letter didn't say that I was accepted!

Yep, that was my life. Thoughts like this seemed to bounce around in my mind as I continued to make my walk home. However, as I turned the next corner I could at least say that I saw the dimly lit candle lights from my room emitting from the distant orphanage. I had noticed that it was beginning to rain, so I took it amongst myself to jog the rest of the distance. I made it to the roofed steps of the orphanage barely able to escape the oddly instantaneous thunderstorm that had somehow managed to sneak up on me. As I wiped off my boots I slowly began to open the old creaky door that was the entrance to the orphanage. My eyes almost instantly lit up as I saw Mrs. Taylor standing at the entrance, a single letter with Beacon's iconic dual-axe crest stamped on the front. "Oh!" I excitedly blurt out. "Is that my letter!?" "Oh, Mr. Longbow." She slightly jumped as I must have scared her with my sudden outburst. "Indeed, it is! I obviously didn't open it, as I wanted it to be a surprise for both of us!" Without any sort of words, I politely snatched the letter from her hands, prying it open as if I was a starving dog and this letter was the first meal that I had had in days. I unfolded the thin sheet of rather official looking paper and began to read.

* * *

"Dear Odin Longbow,

It has come to our attention that you would like to join Beacon Academy. However, you do not meet some of our requirements to join our school. We are sorry to say that you request has been denied. However, if you feel that this choice is incorrect, you can re-submit your form in seven business days."

* * *

I didn't even bother to read the few sentences that followed... my dreams had just been crushed. I slowly slid the letter back into the torn envelope and slid it into my pocket as I slowly began to walk away, a tear beginning to form in my eyes. I wasn't even able to make eye contact with my caretaker, but I could still feel her disappointed stare.

"Mr. Longb-" She paused. "Odin, sweetie, all is not lost. There is always next time, right?" She said with a cheerful tone.

"Umm... Yeah. Always next time." The words came out of my mouth, but even I could tell that they were lacking in any form of sincerity.

"Well... Please come get me if you need anything. I imagine that you want some alone time." She continued, a look of shared sadness on her face.

"Yeah. Thanks Mrs. Taylor." I then slowly trudged up the stairs until I triumphantly reached my room, opening the door to be greeted by my usual surroundings.

It was a small room, but I couldn't exactly complain. I had a decent bed, a small closet, an old television, a few small tables, and even a desk that often doubled as my usual workbench for any wacky contraptions that I could manage to build from scraps. With that said, for the past four years I had been regularly building up a little project of my own. Something that I could really be proud of! Something that admittedly ate away at my monthly paycheck more than any other project ever did. My huntsmen weapon.

Every Huntsmen and Huntress was required to have a weapon that they either built, bought, or had given to them by family. Mine was obviously custom built by myself, and was something of a fully functioning work in progress. You see, I was always on the larger side when it came to my natural body build. I wasn't fat, but I wasn't scrawny either. I was just tall and bulky, often getting called a giant by the newer kids that came and went. So naturally, I wanted a weapon that fit this look. Something that to others was unwieldy, but to me was nothing more than an extension of myself. The whole process started as a sort of coil gun that was built into the handle of a large broadsword that I managed to get for cheap online. However, that model barely made it through my first year of Signal Academy, as I would often find myself repairing it on a weekly basis. So, as the years went by I slowly began to upgrade the weapon. It went from a coil gun to a proper earth dust powered railgun, and the broadsword eventually switched to a proper mechanical two-handed claymore. It wasn't long until I had managed to find a way to properly combine the two in both an effective and reliable way, and eventually coming up with the fitting name of EarthShaker.

Of course, what was a weapon without a signature look to go with it? My armor, while rather crude, was definitely effective. I had managed to get a full suit of decommissioned Vale Police riot gear from a police auction a while back. With that said, I managed to only find a use for the torso, legs, and left arm of the suit (as my right arm was instead covered by thick sheets of steel that was shaped to form a proper gauntlet, shoulder pauldron, and elbow guard that was designed to absorb the massive recoil that EarthShaker wads fairly known for putting out). Underneath all of this I simply wore my usual casual outfit of a dark green hoodie, black t-shirt, cargo pants, and combat boots. Again, it was a rather rag-tag looking appearance, but it was definitely effective when it came to combat. Yep, everything I did sort of reflected the whole giant complex I had going on. Even my recently acquired semblance ironically reflected back on this.

My semblance, while rather plain, was definitely useful. You see, I had the ability to basically send my muscles into maximum overdrive, allowing me to accomplish practically superhuman feats of strength at the expense of my bodies aura. This usually caused my semblance to be a sort of double-edged sword, but it still had its uses.

I slowly lifted EarthShaker from my desk, a small sigh escaping my lips in the process. I felt defeated, like everything I had worked towards never mattered. I wanted to cry, but in all honesty, I knew that I was better than that. I simply needed to blow off steam for a little bit, and I knew exactly how I could accomplish this task: The Vale Scrapyard. The Vale Scrapyard was a usual hangout spot for me, as I had often gone there for spare parts or sometimes even strength training when I was feeling brave. The owners had even come to pay me here and there as I would often use my semblance to help them move some of the heavier objects throughout the area. And since it was a scrapyard, they definitely didn't mind if things were to get broken as they had to eventually break it all down at one point or another.

So, with that said, I gathered my things and began to head downstairs. The gear was definitely heavy when it was all together, but I had learned to get used to it.

"Odin, are you heading out? You know it's still raining, right?" The voice of Mrs. Taylor echoed from what I could assume was the kitchen.

"Yeah, I'll be alright. Just going to the scrapyard for a little bit. Want to blow off a bit of steam." I saw her head rapidly peak around the corner as I said this.

"You better not do anything stupid!" She yelled, a small hint of joking sarcasm hidden within her voice.

"I won't Mrs. Taylor." I responded as I reached for the doorknob, throwing my hoodie over my head. "I'll be back in an hour or two, promise."

"Well, alright then." She sighed with a smile as she returned to the kitchen.

I then stepped outside and took an extremely deep breath as the door closed behind me. The rain, while heavy, was fairly peaceful. I had always been a bit of an outdoorsy person, so walks like this were fairly commonplace for me.

"Alright." I sighed. "Let's make it a good one."

* * *

The walk home was tiring to say in the least. I had definitely gone a little overboard with my 'training', but I really didn't care. I felt better, not only about my results but also about myself. Admittedly, I had a small smile resting on my face. The rain had begun to let up around 45 minutes into my session, so I was actually able to get in some good weapon practice.

That refrigerator never stood a chance.

However, with how good I was now feeling, I had to admit that something definitely felt odd. I couldn't quite place it, but I just knew that something around me wasn't right. I felt… on edge for some reason. It wasn't like someone was watching me, but rather something was going on. It was just a sort of offsetting gut feeling that I had, and I definitely didn't like it.

It wasn't until I made the turn into my usual alley way shortcut when I had realized why.

There was a group of shady looking men standing around something, each one laughing and giving the occasional kick to an unknown object on the ground. At first, I had just thought that it was a few drunkards rolling in from a close to midnight bar crawl, but upon closer inspection I had realized that it was something far worse.

They were surrounding a small girl, perhaps no older than myself. She looked extremely roughed up, and it was enough to cause me to be sickened to my stomach.

"Hey!" I instinctually yelled out without thinking, almost instantly catching the attention of the three goons. "What the hell do you three think you're doing?"

One of the men began to laugh as he stepped away from the girl, the other two staying at her side.

"Look here boys, we got ourselves a hero!" The man laughed as he pulled a red-hued blade from his coat, the other men laughing in response. "Now kid, how about you step away before this gets ugly."

I had to laugh at this display, as these guys were obviously unaware of the heat that I was packing. I wasn't planning on getting into a fight today… but what kind of man would I be if I didn't at least interfere.

I slowly pulled EarthShaker from my back, allowing it to extend to its full length as I took an offensive stance.

"Sir, I really suggest that the three of you simply step away." I cracked a small grin as the apparent leader slightly recoiled in shock.

"Hah! Or what!" One of the side goons spoke up, causing the leader to once again become violent.

"Yeah! What the hell do you think you're gonna do?" The leader took a step forward, brandishing his red blade with a rather sloppy stance.

"All I'm going to tell you is that after the day I've had, I have no qualms against flattening each and every one of you out!" I then allowed EarthShaker to crash on the ground with its full weight, the metallic sound echoing throughout the rather crowded alleyway.

At first there was a bit of a standoff, and something inside of me had hoped that they were debating backing down. However, I wasn't exactly that lucky.

One of the goons then began to charge up the alleyway, a small axe within his grasp. I bead of sweet began to drip down my forehead as my nerves ran wild. This was the first time that I had ever had to fight somebody who actually had intentions of hurting me. However, I knew that I couldn't back down. It was my duty as a hopefully soon-to-be huntsman in training to protect others!

The man's axe lightly clashed against EarthShaker, the small weapon not having nearly enough force to even remotely break my guard. I gave a quick counter attack as I rotated the massive blade downwards, sweeping the legs out from under the goon right before giving him a swift armored punch straight to the nose, knocking him unconscious almost instantaneously as my fist met his face.

The next goon was no wiser, and his weapon of choice was no less impressive than the last. Hell, even his choice of attack was practically identical to the now unconscious man that went before him. This time I took an offensive stance, sidestepping the goon as he wildly swung his blade. I delivered a swift pommel strike directly to the back of his head as he flew past me, leaving the man every bit as helpless as the once before.  
Now all that was left was the supposed leader.

"Alright, it's obvious that none of you guys can actually fight, so how about you just walk away while you still have the chance!" I was trying my absolute hardest to sound tough.

"Ha!" The man chuckled, an odd sense of confidence within his voice. "That's not exactly likely."

He then pulled a small energy pistol from his jacket, pulling back the hammer right before he began to let rounds fly.

"Shit!" I subconsciously yelled out as I pulled EarthShaker's massive blade up to protect myself.

I slowly began to back pedal out of the alleyway, the gun's rounds making constant contact against my weapon. As I took cover on the corner of the alleyway I then realized that I had to make a choice, and a fairly easy one at that.

I switched EarthShaker into Railgun form as I heard the man slowly beginning to make his way towards me.

"You young huntsmen are all the same!" The man yelled out as his footsteps grew closer. "Each and every last one of you are cowards! Unable to face your opponents the second you realize that you've lost the upper hand!"

I began to charge EarthShaker's railgun as he came closer. Usually it took a solid five seconds to get a standard shot off, but I figured that I could at least stun him with only a three second charge.

"What! No response?" The man continued. "You didn't run off did you!?" He sounded borderline maniacal at this point, but I could tell that he was practically right around the corner at this point.

Now was my chance.

I quickly took a kneeled firing stance as I removed myself from my cover. The man was definitely a lot closer than I thought, as the tip of EarthShaker was practically touching the man's stomach at this point. The look on his face was enough to let me know that he was surprised to say in the least.

"What the hell?" He yelled out as he went to point the pistol downwards in an attempt to counter me, but it was too late.

I released the trigger and allowed EarthShaker's almost charged shot to expel into the man's gut. Despite not having the usual five second charge, the shit was still just enough to not only push the man back, but also knock him off his feet. His pistol fell to the ground his he hit the concrete floor with a solid thud. As I stood up I quickly kicked the firearm away from his reach, then I placed my foot on his chest as stood over him.

"Please… Just get your men and leave." I sighed as I chose to spare the man, as I really didn't feel like leaving three unconscious bodies just lying in the open.

However, I didn't receive a response. Literally, all I was given was a blank stare. The man wasn't even blinking. At first, I thought that I must have knocked him into shock, but as the silence grew more awkward I began to realize that something was up.

"Umm, Earth to goon?" I lightly cocked my head in confusion, only to still receive a blank, emotionless stare. "Ugh, whatever. Just get your guys and get out of here."

I then took my foot off of the man and began to head over to where I last saw the girl lying, but it didn't take long to realize that she was no longer there.

"Wait, where did she-" I was cut off as I heard the abrupt sound of tires screeching from the alley's entrance, causing me to jump as I pulled EarthShaker up into a firing stance.

It was then when everything began to get weird… really weird.

I watched as the three goons simply faded away with a static-y pop, the sounds of the cars doors opening and closing immediately following.

"What the hell is going on?" I yelled out as I was now officially frightened. "I am not afraid to open fire!"

I watched as two figures then slowly stepped into the light. One was obviously male, and the other was clearly female, but that was all I could tell as the car's headlights were causing them to be nothing more than silhouettes.

"Now Now young man, there's no need for such violence." An extremely masculine and proud voice lightly boomed throughout the alleyway, slowly stepping into my vision.

"P- Professor Port?" I recoiled back as the extremely well known mustached man stepped into my vision.

At first, I thought that I was dreaming, that I maybe had been knocked unconscious by the goons and that this was all fake, but it felt far too real.

"W-What are you doing here?" I then lowered my weapon.

He simply giggled as he put his hands behind his back. "Young man, it has come to my attention that you received a letter saying that you were denied into our prestigious Academy because you were missing some of needed requirements, is this correct?" He politely asked.

"Umm... yes sir. Why are you here? What is going on?" I stuttered as I tried to get a grasp of what exactly was happening.

"May I see that letter young man?" He oddly responded.

"Umm... sure." I said as I removed the crumbled-up letter from my pocket, shakenly handing it over to him. "But what does that failed letter have to do with you being here? I thought I didn't make it in?"

Port giggled once again. "Young man, exactly how much of this letter did you read?" He asked.

"Uh... up to the word denied." I responded. "I was pretty discouraged after that."

"So, you didn't bother to read the rest then? Well, allow me to do the honors. Ahem." He said as he cleared his throat and began reading the remainder of the letter.

"Your only missing requirement is a live combat experience. With the help of your caretaker Mrs. Taylor, we have set up a scenario close to you. If you succeed, we will accept you into Beacon Academy with flying colors!" Port then smirked as he gazed at me through his squinted eyes.

It was then when the second figure stepped out from the shadows, revealing itself to be none other than Mrs. Taylor herself.

"I was busy with the bills, so it slipped my mind to tell you that we had this set up." She spoke with a deep sense of apology as Port glared down at her.

"So... all of this was just a test?" I responded in complete and total disbelief.

"Indeed it was young man! And the alone fact that you were unaware of this and yet you still charged in to help out that young lady was nothing short of remarkable! You have shown promise young man, so with my word I present to you this letter!" He then pulled out a very familiar looking sealed letter from his coat. "I suggest reading the entire thing this time around."

I lightly grabbed the letter as I attempted to get my hands to stop shaking, but to no prevail. As I tore open the letter and began to read a small tear of joy began to run down my cheek.

* * *

Dear Odin Longbow,

After careful consideration, we are pleased to say that you have passed our test with flying colors. Attached to the back of this letter is your new starting schedule as well as your airship ticket to Beacon. We are excited to have someone with your skillset at our school, and we hope to see you there.

Signed, Professor Ozpin.

* * *

"So, Young man, I believe that you have some things you need to gather for your journey?" Port smiled.

"Yes sir!" I quickly responded as I shook his hand and gave a quick yet tight hug to Mrs. Taylor. It wasn't long until I was sprinting back to the orphanage. I didn't have long to gather my things, but I was too excited to slow down at this point.

This was it. This was the start of my new life.


	2. Character Introduction: Naomi Katara

"What do you mean I can't carry my weapon in the store! I've done it tons of times before! Plus, I even have my license to carry it now!" I furiously yelled as two of the store's guards drug me out of the front entrance, throwing me to the ground.

"I'm aware of this mam. However, due to recent events, we are not allowed to let customers in our store if they are armed. I'm sorry." One of the guards said as they began to walk back inside.

"But I just need a few things! I'll only be about five minutes!" I continued on, catching some attention from the local bystanders.

"Again, I'm sorry mam." The guard said once more as the store's doors shut with a mechanical hiss, leaving me standing in front of the entrance with dozens of civilian eyes latched onto me.

I pulled my weapon, Silver Divide, from my back.  
Silver Divide was a very large weapon; however, it was built from very light and strong materials. I didn't build Silver Divide, but it was built by my mother and then given to me when she passed away two years ago. I always wanted to follow in her footsteps as a Huntress, so I have taken the past two years to learn my mother's fighting style with Silver Divide. However, it was an odd style to learn as Silver Divide was an equally odd weapon to wield. The weapon was essentially a pair of extremely large, purple-handled and silver bladed scissors that could be separated into two separate sword-like blades with the simple push of a button. Each blade was about the size of a large one-handed sword, just slightly thicker and shaped more like, obviously, a scissor blade. The entire weapon was roughly five feet tall if you stood it up straight, which, due to my staggering height of 5'4, proved to be a difficult weapon to master in the beginning. Silver Divide was, however, lacking a gun mode that most modern Huntsman or Huntress weapons usually had now-a-days. However, this not only helped with Silver Divide's weight, but also meant that I didn't need to carry around ammunition. I hated to have a lot of weight on me at one time, so I always tried to keep my overall weight down when it came to my clothing and weapons.

I easily had more clothing then armor, consisting of: A light blue tank top that I wore under a dark blue hoodie that was almost too big for me, a pair of dark, ripped up blue jeans, white and silver tennis shoes, and a locket around my neck that held an old, black and white picture of my mother when she graduated at Beacon inside. The little armor I wore was the same armor that my mother was wearing in that very picture. An old, battle-worn leather chest piece that was worn over my tank top yet under the hoodie, and a pair of leather shin and elbow guards that matched. I usually kept my black, dark blue streaked hair up in a ponytail to keep it from interfering with my fighting style. This setup worked well with Silver Divide as it was light, comfortable, and, what I felt was most important, it looked good on me.  
As I gazed into my own eyes through the reflection of Silver Divide's blade I began to wonder to myself.

"Some birthday present this is." I thought as I slid Silver Divide onto my back, causing it to latch to its holster with a faint click. I could feel the depression of this scenario creeping up on me as I attempted to hold back what little tears were trying to escape.  
I then began walking away from the store, civilian eyes were still watching my every move. It was beginning to get dark as well, so I guess it would be better if I started to head to my home.  
My home was definitely one of the nicer ones in Vacuo, but that was all thanks to my dad, who happened to work for one of the best weapon manufacturers in the city. However, this meant that he was constantly away on business trips or other work-related events... which is where he was from today until Sunday.

"Some birthday this is turning out to be." I thought to myself.

Then again, if it wasn't for him having that job then I would more than likely live in a cardboard box right now simply due to my ripe old age of 16. That was more than likely one of the main reasons I wasn't a huntress yet. You had to be at least 17 to apply for Beacon Academy, so I was still a long, miserable year away before I could send in an application. This thought seemed to haunt me as well, as every time I thought about it time may as well have slowed down by a few seconds.  
I let out a depressing sigh as I trudged along to my house, my hands in my hoodie pockets. My house wasn't that far from the store, but it was in such a location that you couldn't see a single part of it until you turned onto the street it was located on. This was even more so when it was dark as my dad usually kept all of the outdoor lights off. However, my dad usually had a habit of accidentally leaving them on whenever he was out of town. Whether this was for my own safety or for his own sanity was pretty fifty-fifty.  
As I turned onto my street my theory proved correct. The lights outside of our large house were lit up like a Christmas tree. I let out another sigh as I picked up my pace. It has been a long, boring, depressing day. I didn't exactly have anyone to hang out with here in Vacuo, so with dad being gone I was practically alone until he returned. I may have had the nicest house, nice parents, a good education... but all of this didn't help make friends. I was alone in Vacuo... completely alone. I guess that was another reason I wanted to become a Huntress... friends.  
I walked up to my house's fenced entrance, checking the mailbox before I decided to go in. Inside was a single letter that had my name on the front in my dad's handwriting. I opened it up and began reading.

From: Dad  
Hey Naomi, I'm so sorry I couldn't be with you today. I tried to postpone this trip... but the higher-ups wouldn't allow it. Happy Birthday sweetie, I'll see you on Sunday.

I let out another depressing sigh as I crumbled up the paper and slid it into my hoodie's pocket.

"Yep... some birthday indeed." I said to myself once again as I walked up to my front door.  
As I approached the front door I noticed something odd, all of the main lights inside the house seemed to be on, which was weird considering that I recall turning everything off before I left for the store. I swear that I made sure of that as well, at least I couldn't remember leaving anything on. I was highly confused, and could feel that something wasn't right. I pulled my house key out of my pocket and opened up the door, cautiously walking inside.

"Hello!" I shouted as I slowly shut the door behind me, grasping Silver Divide in my hands, but still keeping it slung on my back. "Is anyone here!"

No response.

I started walking around the house, starting with the living room... nothing. The same for the kitchen, dining room, bedrooms, and basement. Every single room in the house looked exactly the same as it always did, all except for the now glowing lights in the house. Maybe dad just set them to turn on at a certain time of night like he did with the outdoor lights.

"You're just being paranoid Naomi." I said to myself as I slowly loosened the grip on Silver Divide's handle.  
I then turned and began walking to my bedroom, turning off lights on the way. However, while I was doing this I felt an eerie sense behind me, like I was being watched. I turned around, but nothing was there. Something was definitely off, and I refused to deny that. I pulled Silver Divide from its holster and began walking through the rooms once more, this time leaving the lights off.  
As I crept through the rooms that eerie sense seemed to stick with me. I had a bad feeling that someone or something was in the house. I noticed that I was grasping Silver Divide's handle with excessive force, my arm profusely shaking... I was nervous to say in the least.

"Calm yourself Naomi." I quietly said to myself as I entered the next room. "Just be on your guard."

"Indeed." A sly, female sounding voice said from behind.

I quickly jumped up and turned to face the general area the voice came from, but was greeted by nothing but empty rooms and dark hallways. I could feel my shaking become more intense as my arms seemed to falter. I wasn't nervous anymore, I was actually scared. Something was in the house with me, and I didn't know what it was. I found myself constantly jumping and jittering to every little noise that went through my ears.

"Just come out damn it!" I yelled as I fell to my knees, the psychological thoughts going through my head had officially got to me.

"If that is what you wish." The female voice responded nearly instantaneously.

Upon hearing that I backed myself up against the nearest wall, grasping Silver Divide in my hand tighter than I ever have before. I was beginning to hear footsteps approach, but not a single person or creature could be seen. The footsteps seemed to be around five feet away when the noise stopped. I slowly stood up as I brought Silver Divide to a bracing stance, and just waited for something to happen... but nothing did. I was just standing there, in the dark of my house, weapon drawn, shaking in place out of fear. I had absolutely zero clue what was going on right now... but my fear and nervousness was soon put to rest with an answer as the creature in my house made the mistake of revealing itself.  
Out from the shadows crept a womanly figure. She was in all black from head to toe, and her face was covered with a white mask that had red detailing throughout it. She wore a patch on her shoulder that represented a red wolf head with three claw marks behind it. I've seen this symbol before, and the name behind it was not a good one... The White Fang.

"This is a pretty nice place little girl... mind showing me where you hide the goods?" She asked, inching closer to me as she drew out two red-hued knives and struck a combative pose. "Or do I need to force you to give me the location?"

It was at this point I knew that I needed to fight. I brought Silver Divide back to a combative state as well, keeping it locked in scissor form as I waited for the intruder to lunge for an attack... but nothing came, nothing more than an awkward yet frightening standoff.

"Aren't you going to attack?" I yelled out, a hint of nervousness hidden in my voice.

"A lady never attacks first little one." She giggled.

"Well then... good thing I'm not a lady." I snappily responded as I cockily lunged at the White Fang soldier... but to no effect.  
She dodged my attack with great speed... speed far greater then my own. With that said, I knew something this White Fang goon didn't; the layout of the house. I quickly turned and began running through the house, attempting to reach the basement door before she saw me. However, she managed to cut me off at every entryway I managed to reach, just causing me to run throughout the house like a mindless idiot. I could hear her running through the house with great precision... maybe she did know the layout, but how? I couldn't run from this, I had to fight her off.

As this thought echoed throughout my head I quickly stopped running, pulling Silver Divide back to a combative stance as I prepared for the unavoidable fight that was about to commence. It wasn't long until the White Fang goon showed herself once more, this time charging at me with greater speed then before. Her two knives clashed against Silver Divide's blade. I took a quick step back and swung Silver Divide, but she just dodged the attack once again, a smirk on her face as she jumped forward for yet another attack that I managed to block. I noticed that Silver Divide had too slow of a swing in scissor form to land a proper hit on something with such speed, however the dual sword mode was easier to manage and had a much faster swing to it... guess I needed to try that.  
I jumped back once more and pressed the unlock button on Silver Divide's handle, causing it to split into two separate blades. As I did this the White Fang goon went for another attack, but this time I had the upper hand. As her two knives struck one of Silver Divide's blades I brought up the other and delivered a swift stab to the goon's stomach, causing her to pull backwards in pain.

"Clever..." She mumbled to herself as she ran at me once more, this time slightly slower than before. I could tell I managed to get in a good hit.  
I brought the two halves of Silver Divide up in front of me, forming an X shape to help with the block. As one of the goon's blades cracked against my own, the other came in from the side, however I managed to move just enough so that the blade went directly behind me... missing by a mere inch. However, I took this chance and quickly lock Silver Divide's two blades back into scissor form, keeping it in an X shape. I used my now free arm to grab her own, then pulled her closer to me as I swung Silver Divide at her legs, causing her to trip onto the floor with great force. The goon attempted to get back to her feet, however I took this time to deliver the final blow. I grabbed onto Silver Divide's blade, then swung the large hilt of the weapon directly into the back of her neck in a clean, axe like swinging motion. A loud cracking noise echoed throughout the house. This hit knocked out the goon instantaneously, her now unconscious body laid sprawled out on the hallway floor.

I began to look around at the damage... and I didn't like what I saw. There were small things broken throughout the house. Pictures, nick-knack's, and other assorted items were broken and scattered throughout the house. Our little fight caused far more damage than I thought, and I knew that it couldn't be fixed.

"Dad's gonna be ticked." I said to myself as I looked back down at the unconscious goon, wondering what exactly to do with her.

"Guess I should call the police." I continued as I began to walk towards the phone, putting Silver Divide back onto my back... but was interrupted by yet another voice, this one sounding very familiar.

"That won't be necessary." A male voice said from behind me.

"Indeed." Another voice responding. This one wasn't familiar in any form or way.

Naturally I reacted by pulling Silver Divide from my back once more, then rapidly turning in a defensive stance. However, I was shocked to see my dad standing before me with a blonde-haired woman wearing a white button up top, black corset, black leggings, black boots, and most eye catching, a black and purple cape that seemed to be shaped to resemble flames. She held what looked like a wand of sorts in her hand.

"Dad? What are you doing here? I thought you were on a business trip? And who is this?" I loudly began to question, gesturing towards the woman.

"I already completed my business trip, Naomi." My dad giggled.

"What do you mean by that? I thought you were supposed to be gone until Sunday?" I yelled back in response, this caught the attention of the blonde-haired woman.

"It seems I was wrong." My dad responded. "The trip was much shorter than expected."

"Okay, then who the heck is this?" I continued, gesturing towards the woman the woman once more.

The woman gave me a sharp, stern look. then uncrossed her arms. I could almost feel my dad's smirk.

"I am Glynda GoodWitch, one of the more high-ranking teachers at Beacon Academy Miss Naomi. I take it your father didn't exactly explain to you what his business trip was for, would you like to find out?" She responded.

It took me a minute to take in this response. Why was a teacher of Beacon Academy here? Where exactly did my dad go for this so-called business trip? I couldn't muster up a verbal response, so I managed a simple nod instead.

"Well then. Your father apparently took notice of your excessive hard work to get into Beacon, and he did some studying of our school's past. We have excepted underage students into our school before, Miss Naomi. So, your father came all the way to Beacon this morning to request that we gave you a chance. And judging from this fight..." She then waved her wand, the white fang goon began to evaporate into thin air before my very eyes. "...you have passed your test. In which your reward is exactly as you father requested; a chance."

It took a second to process what just happened... to process the words that I was just told. I was being given a chance to go to Beacon a year early... all because of my dad. I looked up at him, receiving one of my dad's classic smirks in response. I could feel my eyes begin to tear up as he slowly approached me.

"D... dad? Does this mean?" I quietly asked as tears began to roll down my face.

"Happy Birthday sweetie." He responded as he gave me a much-needed hug.

"And welcome to Beacon." Glynda said from behind.


	3. Character Introduction: Yeyrah Delana

"Why don't you just leave you Faunus scum?" A civilian yelled from my side.

"It's creatures like you who ruin this town!" Another joined in.

"Maybe you should just leave this place, we wouldn't exactly mind if you did!" A third yelled from my side.

I may have been used to this kind of verbal abuse in my town, but I still couldn't help but attempt to hide my face to the best of my abilities and try to get to my house as quick as possible. I always felt that I received more hate then other Faunus in my town however, as I was a much rarer breed then your everyday cat or canine. I was what was known as a Dragonewt, a rare reptilian species of Faunus. Just as the word sounded, I had both the attributes of a dragon and your everyday lizard. The only things I had that altered my physical appearance were my canine teeth, which were like that of a mythological vampire, and my wings... yep... wings.

My wings were very large, as they were meant to carry something the size of a human being through the air... at least for a minute or two. However, it was because of this that I couldn't hide them under everyday clothes like jackets or hoodies, and even then, most of my tops and hoodies had to be modified with holes in the back to slide my wings through. I usually had to wear very loose clothes from the waist up because of this as well, usually consisting of a grey undershirt with a white, blue trimmed hoodie on top. My hair and eyes matched my clothes as well: My hair being semi-short, generally messy, and had an odd and surprisingly natural color of white that faded into light blue as it reached the bottom. My eyes being a very light, crystal like blue. My wings also had a light blue, scaly hue to them. All of this was most likely because I was a Dragonewt of Ice origins, so whites and blues looked very natural on me. Even my name, Yeyrah Delana, was of Ice origins as it roughly translated into Ice Guardian. Then there was my weapon of choice that has been in my family for generations; Frozen Heart.

Frozen heart didn't exactly look like a weapon of any kind. It wasn't a sword, hammer, or anything of those origins, but instead a set of pale-white bracelets with a glowing blue dust crystal imbedded in them. Frozen Heart gave a hunter or huntress a very unique ability; the ability to make highly durable ice-made weapons of any shape or form by simply thinking. My personal favorite being the arm blade, something that completely covered my entire forearm in an ice gauntlet that had around a two-and-a-half-foot long blade coming off the bottom, sort of like a bladed-tonfa made of ice

To be completely honest, I have never been completely sure how Frozen Heart exactly worked, but I really didn't care as it has saved me a number of times from the hands of the many cruel humans who wished to harm me. I didn't look at all humans as bad though, as I have come to peace with the fact that there will always be a select few groups of humans that have an unnatural hate for Faunus. To be deathly honest, I really didn't even hold a grudge against those who did hate faunas. I guess I was just a nice person. That was probably for the better though, as my life would more than likely be miserable if I constantly wanted to fight the humans like the White Fang.

I've actually been asked to join the White Fang before, as were my parents. This was more than likely because nearly my entire family consisted of very gifted fighters. My dad being trained in multiple forms of martial arts combined with a weapon that resembled knuckledusters that flipped into dual revolvers, and my mom whom used to wield Frozen Heart herself until she decided to begin teaching me how to use them around four years back, now she uses something of a trident design that turns into a very long sniper rifle of large caliber.

Yep, we definitely had many skilled fighters in the Delana family, but just about every single one of us have turned down the offers to join the White Fang. However, many members of my family have taken classes at Beacon or at least Signal Academy, and a few have even graduated from Beacon. My mother being one of those examples. She actually sent in my application form for Beacon about a month ago as I recently turned just turned the required age of 17, however I have to admit that I am a bit nervous to the thought of not making it in. Then again, I can't exactly say that my dreams would be crushed if I didn't make it in, as I could easily at least apply for Signal Academy. And even if I couldn't make it into Signal... I still think that I wouldn't mind to much. I'm not even exactly sure why, I always just assumed that it was just a part of my kind, laid back nature. However, my kind nature has been known to do a full 360 when attacked or seeing others get attacked, I guess I'm a natural protector like my father.

I was almost home now, maybe two blocks or so away. But something caught my attention as I passed by my towns local elementary school... something that caused those natural protector instincts to kick in in a near instant. There was a small faunas girl, no older than nine, standing outside of the school, and above her stood four human males that couldn't have been any older then I was. They were standing over her in a menacing fashion, some of them adding in the occasional push or shove. I could hear faint chatter followed by male laughter, but it was nothing I could completely make out. However, it didn't take much to guess the kind of stuff they were saying to her. I began to walk over towards them, attempting to get as close as possible without them noticing. I wasn't going to use Frozen Heart as these were just some immature teenage boys picking on some faunas more than likely for simply being a Faunus. However, I can't say that if one throws a punch I won't break out some of my dad's martial arts skills.  
I nonchalantly crept closer to them, I was beginning to be able to make out some of their words.

"You, know... things like you shouldn't exist." I heard one say as he shoved the girl, followed by laughter from the other boys.

"Maybe you should just head back to your homeland!" Another shouted out, followed by even more obnoxious laughter.

Everything they were saying to the little girl were very stereotypical Faunus insults, something that most faunas get used to at a rather young age. However, this was a little girl, so I'm sure these words were very hurtful to her. I began to pick up the pace so I could get there quicker, but one of the boys saw me approaching and signaled two of his friends to follow him, the other staying back to continue to torment the girl. We were maybe 20 feet away from each other when one of the three boys walking towards me finally spoke up.

"How about you just turn and walk the other way. There's nothing to see here." He giggled, attempting to sound cool and tough as his followers of friends stood by his side.

"I'd rather not." I politely responded as I took a few steps closer.

"And why the hells that?" He cockily responded.

"Well, it could be the fact that I'm not exactly fond of what you're doing to that little girl back there." I replied, staying in my calm and polite tone.  
However, once I said this the three boys had a look of confusion on their faces, but it wasn't long until one of them spoke up.

"Why in the world would a human like you wanna defend a faunus?" One of the boys giggled.

Now I was confused. How in the hell would they think I was a human with these giant wings... but then I remembered that they were looking at me from the front. I usually kept my wings folded up on my back when I wasn't using them, which was fairly often. They couldn't see them from the angle they were seeing me from... so naturally I decided to give them a little scare.

I folded out my wings to their full wing span. "What do you mean human?" I giggled.

This definitely caught the attention of the four boys, even the one still bullying the little girl was looking in my direction now. However, this especially caught the attention of the little girl... I could practically feel the sudden burst of hope she just got once I did this.

I began to walk towards the four boys, wings fully extended. "So... would you rather all walk away now, or would you prefer I knock all four of you straight to the curb?"

At first there was no response, but then one of the boys did probably the worst possible thing he could have done in this situation...charge me. He didn't even say anything, he just ran at me at full sprint, his friends cheering him on as he quickly approached me. I guess I could take this chance to show them I wasn't joking. As the boy reached a dangerously close distance I leaped into the air, going directly over him as I softly landed on the ground behind him, all right before he was even able to process what happened. I quickly turned to face the boy, who was still in the process of turning to face me, and planted a smooth uppercut to his chin. This sent the boy directly to the ground. I turned and faced the others, who were still in a group of three as the boy who stayed to pick on the little girl decided to join his friends.

"Well... are we done here. I'll gladly let you collect your friend and let you go home without any further interference." I politely said as I folded my wings back onto my back and put my arms behind my back.  
The three boys didn't respond, but instead just continued to stare.  
"What? Do I need to dumb that down for you? Are the words I'm using to complex?" I giggled as I took a step closer.

"N-no... no. We were just leaving." One of the boys stuttered, the others nodding in response as they cautiously began to walk forward towards there unconscious friend. To which I responded by, sarcastically as possible I might add, stepping aside and letting them walk by.

"And you have a very nice day!" I giggled as they picked there now awaking friend off the ground and began dragging him away.

"Bro... you just got knocked out by a faunus... a girl one at that." I overheard one say as they walked off into the distance. This made me giggle a bit.  
I then began to walk towards the little girl, who was still standing in the same place she was when the boys were messing with her. She was more than likely still processing what was going on. I walked up to her and crouched down to meet her eye to eye. It was then when I noticed she was just an average cat faunus, as she had small feline ears on the top of her head that matched her blondish hair.

"Hello there. What's your name." I asked in the nicest and friendliest sounding way I possibly could... but no response, just a nervous stare.  
"Well... I'm Yeyrah. It's nice to meet you." I said as I gave the little girl a small hug.

That hug seemed to make her gain enough trust. "I'm... I'm Caitlyn." She quietly said. Her voice was soft, light toned, and kind sounding.

"Well Caitlyn. You're okay now. Did they hurt you at all?" I asked.

"No. They were just really mean!" She blurted out, crossing her arms as a childish yet angry expression swept across her face. "And just because I'm a faunus!" She was beginning to tear up.

"Hey there, don't cry. People used to do the same thing to me when I was little." I said as I gave her another hug.

"R... Really?" She said as I pulled away from the hug.

"Yep. But you wanna know what I think?" I said.

"What?" She replied.

"I think those boys are just scared that your better than them." I cheekily said, but this little girl wasn't old enough to know that.

"You really think so?" She said, I could hear a hint of happiness in her voice now.

"Yep." I grinned. "So, how about I walk you home?" I asked.

"Sure!" She smiled back. "I don't live far from here."

"Lead the way then." I responded as I stood back up.  
Caitlyn then smiled and began happily prancing at my side as we made our way to her house. It wasn't long until she began asking me some rather cute questions.

"So. What kind of Faunus are you Yeyrah? You look like a dragon!" She giggled, which made me giggle back simply by the way she presented the question.

"Yea, something like that. I'm called a Dragonewt." I responded with a smile.

"So, are you able to fly and stuff like an actual dragon?" She asked.

"Kind of. I mean I can fly, just not for that long. I can glide though." I responded.

"Really? That's awesome! All I have is night vision." She said.

"Night Vision? That's pretty cool if you ask me." I responded, trying to keep her in a happy mood.

"You think so? Thanks!" She giggled. "My house is just right up here." She said, pointing at an average looking, white two-story house. Caitlyn slightly picked up her pace as she took off in front of me.

"So, are your parents faunus as well." I asked, simply out of curiosity.

"Well, my mom is. But my dad's just a human. He's really nice though, he's not like other humans!" She responded.

"That's good." I said back.

"What about your parents?" She quickly asked. "Are they both Dragonewts?"

"Yep. Almost everyone in my family are Dragonewts." I said back as we stepped up to her front porch.

Caitlyn turned and smiled at me as she knocked on the locked door, and it wasn't long until it was opened by an older cat faunus: Her mother. I felt her mother's eyes immediately shift towards me as Caitlyn ran in for a hug.

"Umm... Caitlyn... who's this?" She said, her eyes staying attached to my every move.

"Oh. This is Yeyrah! She helped me today in front of the school! She's really nice mom! And she's a Dragonewt!" She smiled, her mother didn't seem amused.

"Umm... hello there." I nervously waved my hand, attempting to avoid direct eye contact.

She didn't respond to me, but instead looked down at Caitlyn. "Honey, how exactly did she help you?" She asked Caitlyn.

"Well." She paused. "There was this group of boys picking on me and saying really mean things to me, but then Yeyrah came along and made them run away!" She said all of this like it wasn't that big of a deal.

Her mother then looked at me. "Is this true?" She asked.

"It's a little downgraded, but it isn't wrong." I responded.

"Well then... thank you for helping." Her mother said as she slowly shut the door.

"Bye Yeyrah!" Caitlyn yelled out right before the door shut.

It was right then when I felt a quick vibration in my pocket...my phone. Probably my parents asking why I'm not home yet. I pulled out my phone and looked at the screen.

* * *

NEW MESSAGE  
FROM: DAD

* * *

I clicked accept and began to read:

* * *

"Yeyrah, we received your admission papers for Beacon back today, you made it in! Whether you choose to go or not, your mom and I just want to let you know that we are extremely proud of you and support your decision wither way!"

* * *

I felt a sense of pride run through me as I began to type my response... but I didn't know what to type. But all it took was a quick look back at Caitlyn's house for me to realize what I wanted to do: Protect. I smiled as I began to type a response.  
"Awesome, and thanks. I think I'm gonna go to Beacon after all. I'll come home really quick and get my stuff packed. See you soon." I then clicked send as I thought back on my words.

Yes, that was what I wanted to be... a protector.


	4. Character introduction: Xion Pyralis

To the Pyralis family:  
We regret to inform you that we must remove you from the White Fang.  
You have disobeyed to many orders and have caused to much trouble.  
You must leave our organization at once.  
If you do not do so, it will not end in you favor.

* * *

I've seen this letter who knows how many times now, and every time I did I got progressively more pissed about it. It was a letter my parents received from the White Fang around two years ago regarding their loyalty to the faction... yep, almost my whole family where at least White Fang initiates at one point in time. That was, until my mother came around. In all honestly, I wasn't too fond of the situation as a whole, but once my mother tried to bring back the old ways of the White Fang, things started to get rather out of hand. At first it was simple threats and blackmail. Then it led to physical and mental torment. However, my parents never gave up. I guess you could say that we were just stubborn like that. But, as that song and dance goes, the corrupt organization eventually grew tired of our defiance, thus the crucifixion of the Pyralis family started.

It has been two years since my family was taken from me. In all honesty, I shouldn't even be alive, but I managed to slip away barely by the skin of my own feet. While I was thankfully spared from ever seeing the aftermath… I was still constantly troubled by the thoughts of exactly what transpired that day. Naturally, this was something that caused me to be a rather violent and jumpy person nowadays. The fact that I had the temper of a full-blooded wolf faunus didn't exactly help either.

I sighed as I plopped back into my ran-down cot, staring up at my weapon as I held it over my head. Ashbringer was a weapon that I had managed to build up over the last two years, however it was extremely crude looking due to a rather low budget... but that didn't stop the pair of rather violent looking gauntlets from being highly effective. Ashbringer was just a set of plated gauntlets that had a set of claws coming off them, each one snuggly sitting atop of my fingers. Each claw measured in roughly at eight inches, which was more than enough to say that each of my fingers practically had a knife attached to it. Ashbringer didn't have a transformation either, but it did have a secondary function: a flamethrower. Mounted to the top of each gauntlet was a set of small barrels that did exactly as stated: threw flames. They were fueled by tanks attached to my side that had a mix of fuel and very finely ground fire dust crystals in them. This setup proved to be highly reliable 9as well as highly lethal) in close combat situations. With that said, it was safe to say that I'd singed the hair off of the tips of my tail one too many times.

I refused to remove Ashbringer from my arms most of the time, as I always liked to be armed in some form or way. However, this stubbornness of mine made it rather difficulty to remain inconspicuous… and the tail didn't exactly help either. I usually wore very street looking clothes, and I tried to stick to a black and white color scheme with them simply based off of my own personal preference. My outfits usually consisted of a black, zipped up hoodie, white undershirt, a grey pair of jeans, and white and grey tennis shoes. I didn't like to wear armor however, I just felt that it slowed me down in combat.

That was another thing about me, I thoroughly enjoyed fighting. It was just something I was raised into as a family member of one of the White Fang's previously most notorious families. However nowadays I felt that the White Fang were the only things I wanted to fight. I've fought countless enemies: thugs, goons, even fought a wild beowolf once. The only way I've thought of where I could actually fight the White Fang head on was nearly impossible though, and that was to join Beacon Academy. Of course, this ideal had a slew of issues. For one, I could almost guarantee that the second they saw my family name on the letter they would chuck it into the trash. Plus, it didn't exactly help that even if I did get accepted for whatever reason, I would more than likely run the risk of having the White Fang track me down, thus bringing unneeded danger to the students and teachers.

So... in the end... I really didn't have a way to get revenge on the White Fang for what they did to my family, yet I was practically fueled by the need to do just that.  
I pulled my claws up to slash at the wall as the rather infuriating thoughts began to fill my mind. I was ready to call it a day, but was interrupted by a steady knock at my door. I let out another sigh and checked to make sure I had a full fuel tank hanging from my side, as nothing good ever came from knocks at my door. Almost expectantly, I was greeted by a smooth, yet oddly swift punch to the chest. The hit was enough to send me recoiling backwards, but not quite enough to throw me off guard. I looked into the doorway and saw male figure that was wearing a highly familiar piece of clothing: A White Fang soldier uniform.

"What? Come to finish the job?" I yelled out, pointing at him with the claw attached to my index finger, I could almost feel the rage inside me burst. 'Well come on! What are ya' waiting for?"

"I have been sent by my commander to deliver a message, Xion. It doesn't matter who I am." He yelled out, it didn't take me long to guess why he was here. "I assure you, it is of the utmost importance that you at least give the letter a look."

"I'll ask once more scum. Who the hell are you!" I snarled as I brought Ashbringer to a fighting stance, ignoring his request.  
I didn't receive a verbal response, but instead the sight of the soldier drawing his weapon, which was just your average dust pistol. Between that and the simple fact that there was a member of the White Fang in my house made my anger boil, and I wasn't sure how much longer I could hold it in.

"Xion Pyralis!" The soldier yelled out as he took aim. "By order of the White Fang, you are required to leave this area at once. It is property of the White Fang, and your family is forbidden from stepping foot on our property." He continued.

And just like that I snapped. I lost all control as I lunged at the soldier, delivering a smooth slash across his chest, followed up by a burst of flames on the backswing. This caused him to recoil backwards, but not enough to escape my reach. I reached forward and grabbed ahold of his shoulders, then pulled him forward to where his skull met my own with great force. This would usually hurt both of us, but I was to fired up to even care at this point. The soldier then fell onto the ground, nearly unconscious. He attempted to use the last of his strength to stand back up, but I prevented that with a swift stomp to the chest. This didn't knock him out, but he definitely wasn't getting back up. I bent down and pressed one of my claws against his throat.

"Now then... I'm gonna give you one chance to stand up, leave, and tell your boss that I'm not going anywhere." I threatened as I stood up, pulling him up by the shirt with me, then turning him around and kicked him in the back. "This house is the last thing I have of my family, so I'll be damned if I'm gonna let you mutts take it from me!"

He fell forward, but slowly stood up and looked back at me. "Have it your way then." He giggled as he held up his arm, revealing a blinking red light hidden away on his wrist.

"The hells so funny!" I shouted as I took a step closer. "And what the fuck is that light for?"

A very loud rumbling began to creep closer from behind me, almost as if the very earth was beginning to tremble as the vibrations seemed to come closer. Now curious, I decided to exit the house to investigate, punching the White Fang soldier clean out as I walked by him. Once outside, I turned to be greeted by nothing more than a clear sky. However, the rumbling resumed to grow louder and louder until it was borderline deafening.

However, it wasn't long until the new issue arose. I watched as a cloaked White Fang gunship began to materialize in the air directly above me. I could feel my inner rage begin to boil once more. It wasn't long until the airship began dropping repel ropes at my feet. I was about to be in for a very large battle, and I had absolutely zero objections to that either. I may as well have been grinning ear to ear as I saw the first group of White Fang soldiers begin to repel down towards their impending doom. My inner rage was almost at its peak now. I could feel it heating up inside me. Time seemed to slow. I could feel myself shaking with rage and excitement as the first group of soldiers finally touched the ground. I already had a plan of attack for it as well.

I went down on all fours and began charging at them with great speed... something wolf Faunus's were known for doing in combat, and to great effect at that. It took almost no time at all to reach the group of soldiers. I jumped into the air and latched onto the first one to touch down, repeatedly slashing at him with Ashbringer until he fell to the ground. The rest of the group were still attempting to react to my sudden attack when I began to rush towards them, flames spitting out of Ashbringer muzzles. This sent two more soldiers to the ground, screaming in pain... two left now. I ran forward at one of them and delivered another swipe, but was barely blocked by his red-hued sword. However, this wasn't enough to block my follow up swipe, which sent him falling to the ground with a large claw mark going all the way from the top of his chest to his stomach. I stood up and snappily stared down the final soldier, who was shaking as he attempted to aim his rifle at me. I got back down on all fours and charged once more, this time sweeping the soldiers legs, sending him crashing to the ground. Before he could react, I stomped down on his chest... probably a few to many times, but I didn't care at this point.

My rage was at its peak now, I could feel the anger fueled blood running through me with great speed. I looked up at the airship, yet another group of soldiers were beginning to repel down, this time in great numbers. I already knew how to fight this time though. I walked over and stood directly by the group of repel ropes and began letting gas leak out of Ashbringer's four spare fuel tanks that were mounted on my belt... then simply waited for all of the soldiers to touch the ground and surround me.

It wasn't long until they did just that. A larger group of around 10 White Fang soldiers now had me completely surrounded, and I didn't care. I waited for them all to get within slashing range until I used one claw on each of my hands to cause a spark, causing a massive fire dust fueled explosion to send all 10 of the soldiers flying away from me, all of them completely defeated before they even touched the ground. I couldn't stop fighting anymore, I was too involved now... I was too angry to even stop if I wanted to at this point. I glanced up at the airship to see if it was going to drop more soldiers, but nothing came. So, I waited, I wanted more. I NEEDED more!

However, more didn't come. The airship just stayed there, hovering in place with its overly loud engines that were beginning to hurt my ears. I was tempted to start climbing one of the repel ropes, but I could run the risk of one of Ashbringer's claws slipping and cutting the rope, sending me tumbling to the ground. So instead I just stood there and waited for something to happen, but nothing did. Maybe they were waiting for me to do something... maybe there were literally no soldiers left to pilot the ship. No, that didn't make any sense, why would the pilot come down to fight. Something wasn't right here... I just wish I knew what.  
Possibly ten minutes went by... nothing. Then 20, then 25, then 30. Still nothing but the stupidly loud rumbling of the airship's engines. However, I noticed something begin to change about the aircraft. It was slowly becoming harder to focus on, fading away. It was going back into cloaking, but why did it take so long? I began to look around at the unconscious White Fang bodies lying almost everywhere you looked. I could feel myself starting to calm down as the airship reached full cloak, the rumbling beginning to slowly drift further away as the ship evidentially began to leave. It didn't take long for the natural sounds of the wilderness to come back to life as the sounds of the airship disappeared.  
I began looking around the field once more. A large, black, burnt circle was surrounding me from my explosion. Everywhere on the outskirts of the explosion were unconscious White Fang bodies. I giggled under my breath.

"I'm not leaving this place just yet." I said to myself as I began to walk back to my small house, but then something very unexplainable began to happen.  
All of the unconscious bodies slowly began to fade away, eventually fading into thin air. I began looking ecstatically around in confusion. I officially had zero clue what was going on now. Between the airship taking so long to leave and now this... I was at a horrible loss of words.  
I shook my head and began rubbing my eyes to see if my they were just playing tricks on me, but it was no use. What I saw actually happened.  
"Okay... maybe I should get some rest, Figure this out later." I said to myself as I cautiously turned and began to slowly walk back into my house.

* * *

I've been sitting at the foot of my bed for an hour now, I haven't been able to sleep or figure out what exactly was going on. Admittedly, my brain was completely at a loss on this whole situation. Literally none of it made sense to me. However, my thoughts were once again interrupted by a steady knock at my door.

"Round 2?" I thought to myself as I strapped some new fuel tanks to my side and opened up the door, this time immediately taking an abrasive stance as I waited for another attack... but nothing was there. The only difference from now and earlier was that it was slightly darker outside... and that there was a letter lying at my feet. I slowly bent down and picked up the letter, then walked back inside and began to open it.

At first I assumed that it was just some White Fang scout leaving me another death threat, but upon closer inspection I came to realize that this was nothing of the sort. No, this was no White Fang letter… This was more professional looking, and the wax seal on the front was different than the usual blood red ones I was used to receiving.  
Upon opening the envelope, my eyes widened. All that was inside was a single piece of high quality paper with the Beacon Academy logo on the front and small note on the back that came with a set of coordinates. The note read:

* * *

Xion Pyralis,

We have heard you want to be put into Beacon Academy's program.  
Despite your family's past, we have decided to focus on your future.  
That is why we have tested you today, to which you passed in record time with flying colors.  
The coordinates on this paper will lead you to the nearest Beacon airship that will take you and many other students to the school for their first year.  
Whether you choose to go there or not is completely up to you as we understand the situation that you are currently in. However, all of the staff here at Beacon academy would not only like to offer you a second chance, but also proper guidance.  
The airship arrives in four days.  
Hopefully we will be seeing you soon.

* * *

Everything made sense now. The fight was a test. The soldiers were simply some of Beacon's hyper realistic combat holograms. I didn't even care how Beacon managed to hear about me wanting to join their school, all I cared about was the fact that I could actually attend now... and use what I learn to seek revenge on the White Fang. I quickly put the letter back into the envelope and began packing up my things.  
The White Fang isn't going to know what hit them once I'm done here.


	5. Chapter 1- New Beginnings

The airships heading to Beacon Academy were amazing in just about every aspect possible. The looks, size, speed, and even the carrying capacity was simply something to behold! There were easily a few hundred students on this aboard, and a decent chunk of them seemed to be first years. I was constantly looking around for some people to socialize with, but everyone had already seemed to have made their own groups friends. I figured it would just be kind of awkward to simply walk up to a group of people and just wait to be acknowledged, so I instead decided to simply sit down on one of the airship's many window side benches and wait until someone either came up to me or until I spotted someone going through the same issue.

This would usually be a rather depressing thought, but I was too happy at this point in time to even care. I had made it into Beacon Academy! The only school I had ever wanted to attend in my entire life! I was practically smiling ear to ear as we grew closer to the school. I began looking around the airship to see if I would notice anything out of the ordinary, but all I was greeted with where the hordes of miscellaneous students rushing up and down the airships rather vast halls. I turned around and faced one of the airship's massive windows that peered into the vast land of Remnant. We were currently above the clouds still, something that I quite enjoyed. However, I could tell by looking around at people's faces that some didn't exactly agree. With that said, there was one person in particular that caught my eye, a girl at that.

She had dark green eyes with black hair with a single blue streak in it, all of this put back into a rather adorable looking ponytail. She was wearing a blue tank top and a darker blue hoodie over that, then a pair of ripped up jeans and a pair of greyish colored shoes. I think I spotted a leather chest piece under the hoodie as well, along with a matching set of leather shin guards. However, there was a very particular object on her that truly caught my eyes: A very large, dark purple handled pair of scissors that was slung across her back. That must be her weapon. As I looked in her direction I noticed two other things. One being that she was completely alone, and the other being that she was one of the people that held a look of sickness and nervousness on her face.

"I guess you should introduce yourself." I thought aloud as I stood up out of my seat and slowly began to walk over, but it wasn't long until she noticed and lightly stared me down as I awkwardly inched closer to her.

"Umm... Hello there." I said as I stood in front of her, just now noticing that she was easily a foot shorter then me... possibly even more.  
She looked up at me with her dark green eyes, as if contemplating whether or not to respond.

"Umm… Hello?" She nervously spoke.

"Are, umm… Are you feeling alright?" I asked. "You're looking a little green."

"Not exactly." She quietly responded, placing a hand on her stomach as if to signal pain.

"This your first year at Beacon to?" I asked in a poor attempt to make conversation.

"Yea, but that's not what I'm scared about." She continued.

"Ah, not too fond of flying I take it?" I giggled.

"More just heights in general." She explained with a sickened sounding voice, but I could hear a light giggle behind it.  
I found this kind of humorous, but I could tell that she was very stressed about the current situation. I sat down on the bench beside her and attempted to make conversation.

"Well, my names Odin Longbow. What's yours?" I asked, sticking out my hand as a kind gesture.  
She looked back towards me, then smiled as if a weight was lifted off of her shoulders.

"Naomi. Naomi Katara." She said as she stuck her hand out to greet my own, her grip much lighter than what I would have imagined.

"So, what is it you have there?" I asked, gesturing towards her ginormous pair of scissors.

"Oh, this?" She said as she pulled the gigantic weapon from her back with seemingly little to no effort, which was surprising given her body to weapon size ratio. "This is Silver Divide. A weapon passed down through my family."

"What's it do?" I curiously responded.

"Well, it doesn't have a gun or anything like the newer weapons, but it does split into two large single-handed swords!" She explained with great pride in her voice as she stoof up and began to playfully demonstrate the weapons abilities. "What does yours do?" She asked, pointing down at EarthShaker.

"Well, mines definitely a bit fancier." I jokingly giggled as I pulled EarthShaker from my waist. "This is EarthShaker. It's a high impact, Earth dust powered railgun that, at the flick of a switch, turns into a very large two handed greatsword." I then began to also demonstrate what my weapon was capable of, but all I received in response was a slight giggle. "What's so funny?" I smiled.

"Oh, nothing. It's just that you weren't kidding about it being fancier." She laughed. "I bet that thing cost you a pretty penny!"

"Hell, the thing still does when it comes to ammunition. It burns through dust crystals like nothing." I jokingly said, to which she responded by continuing to giggle.  
We both slung our weapons back to their resting places, then proceeded to sick back down onto our apparently claimed bench.

"So, where are you from?" She asked.

"Vale, actually. What about you?" I asked in return.

"Vacuo." She responded. "So, why did you want to come to Beacon?"

This was a question I honestly had to think about for a bit. "Well, it has just been something I had always been fascinated in. The word alone, Huntsman, always intrigued me when I was young. So, I guess it just went from there. What about you?" I responded.

"Well, my mother was a huntress. I guess I just wanted to follow her footsteps." She then stopped herself and giggled once more, which was followed by a small sigh.

"What's up?" I politely questioned.

"Oh, it's nothing. It's just that I'm technically not supposed to be aloud at the school yet." She said, cutely giggling once again.

This sentence seemed to confuse me a bit. "What do you mean by that?" I asked.

"Well... I'm not exactly old enough yet. I'm only 16. I was supposed to wait another year." She explained.

"How in the world did you manage to get in then?" I coughed. "Must of had to pull some major strings!"

"Yeah, I can thank my dad for that one. Apparently, he flew all the way to Beacon one day just to convince them to give me a chance. Long story short, some events transpired and now I'm here!" She smiled.

"Well that's kind of odd." I said.

"And why's that?" She asked.

"Well, you would think with Beacon being a school of its... how should I say... stature, that they wouldn't be susceptible to bending the rules." I stated in response.

"Funny... I thought the same thing when my dad first told me I was allowed to go." She lightly smirked.  
We then sat there in awkward silence as we evidentially ran out of conversation starters. Luckily, the silence was interrupted by a female voice that shot over the airship's intercom.

"Attention all new and returning Beacon Academy students, we are currently twenty minutes away from arrival. Once the airship lands report straight to the Great Hall. The map provided on your scrolls will help you locate this are. That is all." The intercom then fizzled out with a light screech and then fell back to silence. Naomi and I glanced over at each other.

"Well, twenty minutes and our new lives start." I smiled to Naomi.

"Hmm… I guess so." She giggled, the nervousness beginning to return to her voice.

"You nervous to?" I asked, seemingly already knowing the answer.

"Yea, just a little bit." She responded.

"I think we'll do just fine here." I politely responded, to which she responded with yet another smile and giggle.

"You know... I think you're the first friend I've had in a while." Naomi blurted out, to which it seemed like that was something that she didn't want to say as her cheeks almost instantly became a light shade color.

"No need to be embarrassed about that. I'm afraid that I'm in the same boat." I smiled, to which she responded with a sigh of relief.  
We then fell back into silence for the rest of the trip, however this time it was a rather pleasant silence. It wasn't long until the airship's intercom fired back on with a light hiss.

"Attention all students. If you look out your nearest bay window you will see Beacon Academy." The intercom then abruptly shut off with a screech.  
Naomi and I looked at each other and smiled. I stood up to walk to the nearest bay window, but she didn't follow. I turned and looked at her.

"What's wrong? Don't you wanna see the school?" I asked.

"Umm... you're not wrong." She stuttered. "Heights, remember?"  
Admittedly, I completely forgot about the heights and flying issue. However, I didn't want her to miss out on this view. I walked over to her and stuck out my hand.

"I won't let you fall." I jokingly giggled.  
She smiled and slowly began to stick out her hand. I grabbed it and slowly pulled her up, I could practically feel her legs shaking as we inched towards the bay window.  
"You truly are scared of flying." I smiled.

"P-petrified." She stuttered, her eyes not leaving the ground.  
We crept closer to the bay window, and even though we couldn't even see the school yet, the view was amazing. However, it was at this moment that I noticed three more airship's come into view. They were equally as large as the airship we were on, if not a bit bigger.

"Wow... that's a lot of students. How big is this school exactly?" I questioned, seemingly to myself as I received no response.  
It wasn't long until we made it to the front of the window... and what we saw was absolutely stunning. The school was beautiful in every sort of way. The size was much larger then I had ever imagined, as it seemed to completely dwarf the airships. It was very nice to look at, and I could tell I wasn't the only one who thought so as the crowding students began to emit "Oo's" and "Ah's" from nearly every direction. I looked down at Naomi, who was as green as ever.  
"Well... what do you think?" I asked, still gawking at the school.

"It's... beautiful." She slowly responded. "But I'll get a better look once we land." She nervously giggled.

I glanced back down at her. "You wanna go back to the bench, don't you?" I smiled.

"That would be much appreciated." She chuckled as she held her stomach.  
We both shared a laugh as we slowly walked back to the bench. I could feel the airship begin to descend as we sat down.

"We must be landing." I said.

"Thank god!" Naomi yelled out.  
I began to laugh, but was interrupted by the sudden halt of the airship's movements, then the firing up of the intercom.

"Attention all returning and new students." There was then a sudden pause as all of the students began standing. "Welcome to Beacon."  
The intercom then shut off, which was followed by cheers and students walking over to the main exit of the airship. I looked down at Naomi once more.

"Hey Naomi." I asked.

"Yea?" She quickly responded.

"What say we get off this damn thing?" I giggled.


	6. Chapter 2- Beacon Rising

Naomi and I were standing within the ever-growing crowd of students as we waited for the airship's doors to hiss open and lead us into our new lives. Neither one of us were speaking, but I could tell from the atmosphere alone that we were both practically jumping with excitement and joy on the inside. However, I could also tell that we were both extremely nervous as well. We may have been bearing smiles upon our faces, but we were also both shaking something fierce. Granted, it was safe to say that we weren't the only ones judging from the people around us. Some of the students around us even had a look of sickness on their face.

"Well, at least were not the only nervous ones." I spoke up in attempt to make conversation.

"Hmm, yeah, I'd say so." She nervously grinned.  
Another few minutes of silence went by, the seemingly endless crowd of students growing in the process.

"Ugh!" Naomi grunted. "Why can't they just open the door already! I felt the airship come to a stop a few minutes ago!" She yelled, lightly bouncing in place.

"Anxious, are we?" I joked, which just left me with a light punch to the shoulder. "Ow. Hey now, was that really necessary?" I continued to laugh.

"What? Don't tell me that you're not extremely nervous and excited too." She grunted, proving my earlier thought.

"Well, you're definitely not wrong." I responded.  
It wasn't much longer until the crowd as a whole started to get extremely impatient and noisy. The volume of the crowd of students alone was almost unbearable, however I couldn't exactly say that I was against this, as the crowd was like this for the same reasons we were. I glanced back down at Naomi to continue the conversation.  
"If the crowd keeps this noise up, they'll pretty much have to open the doors." I yelled so she could hear me over the growing noise.

"You think they're waiting for the other airships to land?" Naomi yelled in return.

"That's a poss-" I was cut off by the, somehow louder than the crowd I might add, noise of the airships airlock opening to reveal the school.  
The crowd began pouring out of the airship and onto the school grounds.  
It wasn't long until Naomi and I were outside and admiring our new surroundings. The airship dropped us off around 100 yards away from the school. Where we currently where were a system of landing pads that were suspended in the air by Beacon Academy's Cliffside. The landing pads all connected to a very large walkway, which was littered with well-organized and colorful trees, plants, and lamppost that lead to the school's courtyard. The walkway then lead to what was evidentially Beacon's Great Hall. Everything beyond that was just bits and pieces of the school that was all built up around a very tall clock tower looking building that towered over all the others. Everything consisted of silver, red, and blue colors. To be completely honest, this place resembled more of an oversized castle then a school. Some would even say a fortress.

"Whoa… This place is breathtaking!" I overheard Naomi yell from my side.

"I don't think breathtaking does it justice." I responded, still gawking at my new surroundings.  
As we continued to walk towards the courtyard we continued to admire out new surroundings, every now and then stopping to really take in the view. As we got closer to the courtyard I was able to make out some fine details that I couldn't make out from the landing pads, the one catching my eye the most being the large statue directly in the center. The statue had two people on it, one male and the other female, each wielding weapons and standing over a creature of Grimm, each wearing a heavy look of pride and determination upon their faces. It was truly a stunning yet simple landmark, and one that I felt fit the school with perfection. It must have caught Naomi's eyes as well as I noticed her staring at it with even greater focus then me.

"It's a nice piece." I said.

"Indeed." She simply responded.  
Neither one of us had a response after that, which was quite awkward. We looked at each other and met eyes for a second... then began to collectively giggle over the awkwardness of the situation.

"What kind of conversation starter was that!" She laughed as she began to mock my voice.

"And what kind of response was Indeed?" I mocked her voice in return.  
We probably laughed at this for a solid minute until we were cut off by a sudden shout coming from the other side of the courtyard. I couldn't make out what was said, however I could tell that it didn't sound pleasant.

"Who was that?" Naomi asked.

"Not sure, didn't exactly sound like a good thing though." I responded.

"Think it's worth checking out?" She said.  
I went to say something, but was cut off by yet another ineligible and violent sounding scream.

"Umm... probably wouldn't hurt." I continued.  
Naomi nodded as we began to walk towards the source of the screams. Neither one of us knew what to expect, but it was best to prepare for the worst.  
As we grew closer, we were able to make out some of the things being said. It sounded like arguing... just more aggressive. We were actually fairly close to whatever was going on, however we couldn't see due to a decent sized crowd surrounding the ordeal.

"Think there's any way we can get to the front of the crowd?" Naomi asked.

"Other than pushing everyone out of the way, no." I responded, standing on my toes in a weak attempt to get a peak over the crowd.  
I still couldn't quite see what was going on, but everything that I could see added up to the perfect formula for a fight, and I had a feeling that a fight in a school like beacon wasn't your everyday civilian fist fight. I continued to stand up on my toes to attempt to see if I was correct.

"Can you see anything?" Naomi spoke up from my side.

"Nope, crowds too thick. I think it may be a fight though." I said.

"Are you sure?" She asked.

"No, but everything going on kind of adds up." I responded.

"We really should try and get to the front then." She paused. "Maybe we can help break it up."

"Agreed, but how?" I asked, looking down at her.  
I saw her mouth open with a response, but her voice was drowned out by a far more intelligible yell.

"Do you really think that a freak like you belongs here!" A male voice yelled out, followed by the laughter of a few others.

"As of now, yes. But once I'm done with you they'll have carry you out in a bucket!" Another male voice yelled in response, seeming to sound far more excited about the idea then one should.

"Well, that didn't sound good at all." Naomi said.

"Think I should just push to the front?" I asked.  
I didn't get a verbal response, but more of an 'It wouldn't hurt to try' kind of look.

"Alright then." I said as a slightly stretched out my legs. "Just stay behind me."  
I then began to slowly push through the crowd, using my size to my advantage. I hung my armored arm out in front of me as I lightly brushed people aside as unnoticeably as possible. Naomi practically clung to my back as I pushed forward, as I fear if she didn't she would simply be swallowed back into the mass of people. I could tell that this wasn't appreciated by some members of the crowd, but I was already this far into it... and I definitely wasn't planning on turning back.  
Luckily, this managed to work. We reached the front of the crowd and began observing the situation.

There were four boys going at it, and judging from their positioning it appeared to be three versus one. The three boys that were grouped up appeared to be your everyday average looking huntsmen. Their weapons and armor were nothing that really stood out, and only consisted of dual swords, a staff, and some sort of trident... however the boy standing on his own was the complete opposite. The main thing that caught my eye was that this boy was a faunus of wolf origins as he sported a large, bushy tail and a pair of large canine ears. Both the ears and tail started in black and faded into a light grey towards the tip. His clothes consisted of a black hoodie, pants, and boots with a white undershirt. He had all black leather armor that covered his forearms and thighs. However, his weapon was the most eye catching. They appeared to be a set of mechanized claws that were connected to a set of silver fuel tanks attached to his belt.

"How about you come at us then wolfy?" One of the three boys joked, the other two joining in laughter.

"Or are you afraid of losing?" Another yelled out.  
The crowd was starting to chant the simple words of fight over and over, and judging from the atmosphere it wouldn't be long until exactly that happened.  
I looked back over at the faunus and could almost feel his anger. He had a prominent look of rage in his eyes.

"We need to do something before this gets ugly." I said to Naomi.

"Are you crazy? That's not gonna look good for our first day here." She said.

"I know, but this isn't a fair fight. Plus, it looks like they're simply picking a fight with him just because he's a faunus. And in all honesty, I'm not okay with that." I said with determination.

"You're gonna help whether I do or not then?" She responded with a worried tone.

"Afraid so." I grunted, placing my hand on EarthShaker. I then glanced down at Naomi once more, who seemed to have a deep look of thought plastered across her face.

"Alright then... I'll help. What's the plan?" She spoke up to my surprise, as I was already assuming that she wouldn't be keen on pitching in.

"Well, I was just gonna walk up and stand with him, then go from there. Those boys look like they're all talk anyway." I said.

"Well, it's not much of a plan." She frowned. "But, I guess it's better than just standing around and watching. I'll be behind you then." She said, putting her hand on Silver Divide's handle.  
I took a deep breath, then began walking towards the faunus. The crowd almost instantly fell silent, I could feel their eyes switchover to Naomi and I, which was far from a pleasant feeling. However, even over all that, I could especially feel the faunus boy glaring at us. Once we were by his side, we didn't speak. Just stood there in awkward silence, each of us waiting for another to make a move. Naomi and I shot each other a quick glance as if to signal each other, then drew our weapons to face the three boys who all jumped back in response. As we did this I noticed the faunus loosen his combative stance as he began to giggle.

"Well then." He smiled. "How about you three come to us first!" He yelled out, stepping towards the boys. His voice was deep and energetic. I guess he excepted our help. At first there was no response, but then one of them decided to be brave.

"What? You think these two are gonna help you?" He laughed, stepping towards us with a weapon drawn.  
Naomi and I looked over at each other, then back to the boys. Tension was beginning to fill the air.

"If we weren't going to help then we wouldn't have stepped up." I said as I switched EarthShaker into railgun mode, swiftly aiming it at one of the boys.  
Naomi then stepped forward as well, opening up Silver Divide as she spun it around herself in a rather precise fashion.  
"Now then, how about one of you make the first move so we can put an end to this nonsense." She said, all the while the Faunus boy continued to laugh.  
The crowd was officially completely silent now as the tension continued to rise. Three versus three... all six of us simply waiting for someone to make a move... and one of us did... the faunus.  
He lunged forward at one of the boys on all fours, striking the boy with the dual swords with enough force to put slash marks across his chest piece. This sent the boy falling to the ground. The faunus then glanced back at us as the remaining two boys looked on in awe.

"Well? Your turn!" He yelled out.  
Naomi and I looked at each other, then initiated our attack. I took a knee and began opening fire on the boy with the trident as Naomi charged towards the boy with the staff. My railgun blast sent the trident wielder flying backwards, and while he was in midair I ran towards him with EarthShaker in greatsword form. By the time I reached him he had already made it back to the ground. I leapt on top of him, and instead of slashing him with my blade, I delivered a swift bash to his head using the pommel at the base of the hilt. I looked up to observe what the faunus and Naomi were doing, and it seemed they were just finishing up their portions of the fight.

Naomi had the staff wielders weapon trapped in the X of Silver Divide, and it wasn't long until she delivered a final blow by quickly snapping Silver Divide into dual sword mode. She used one blade to keep the staff at bay, and the other to swiftly strike the boy in the stomach, coincidentally sending him to the ground. I then looked over at the faunus, who was currently on top of the boy he originally attacked, delivering swipe after swipe with his claws. He eventually stopped, but instead delivered a solid burst of flame onto the boy utilizing what I now knew were flamethrowers mounted on the top of his gauntlets. We watched as the boys aura shattered, to which the faunus stopped before any true damage would be dealt. Naomi and I came back to each other's sides as we watched this.

"A bit much, don't you think?" Naomi said, looking in concern as the faunus began walking back to us.

"I mean yeah, but at least he didn't kill him." I responded, Naomi didn't seem too fond of this answer as I only received a stern look.  
As the faunus boy reached us the crowd began to disperse. His bushy wolf tail began wagging as he approached us, all the while a smile was drawn across his face.

"Hey! Thanks for helping me out there. I probably could have taken them by myself, but I can't deny some proper back up now and again." He smiled, his tail seeming to speed up.

"Umm, no problem." I said, as I was confused about his sudden change in demeanor and attitude. I could tell Naomi was thinking the same thing.

"Anyway, my names Xion Pyralis. Pleasure to meet you two." He smiled as he extended out his armored claws, his tail now seeming to be at maximum velocity as we shook his hand.

"Well, I'm Odin Longbow." I cautiously returned the gesture.

"Umm... and I'm Naomi Katara." Naomi continued on as she glanced over at the three unconscious boys. "Umm... should we help them up at least?"

"Yeah, we should probably do something before the teachers find out." I agreed.

"Nope. They'll be fine. Besides, we gotta get to the Great Hall for the meeting." Xion said.

"None the less, we should at least wake them up." Naomi grunted, obviously hinting to the fact that she wasn't okay with the overall situation.

"Ugh! Fine! Just don't expect me to be nice to them after what they started!" Xion sighed as we all walked over to the three boys.  
We each helped the same person we fought with, and not a single one of them spoke a word as we brought them back to their feet. Instead they sloppily ran off as the remaining observing students giggled at their defeat.

"See, wasn't that bad, was it?" I joked with Xion.

"Hey, it hurt me just as much to help them out!" He shouted, his tail suggested that he was joking around as it began to wag once more.

"Guys, we really should get to the Great Hall. That meeting for first year students probably already started." Naomi jumped in, very obviously the voice of reason out of this whole situation. She waved us over as she began running towards the extremely large doors of the Great Hall. Xion and I cheekily glanced over at each other, smiled, and then followed her lead towards the Great Hall.  
I guess we just made a new friend.


	7. Chapter 3- Of Days to Come

The interior of the Great Hall was every bit as stunning as the exterior. It was a very large, open room that matched the schools extremely apparent ivory and gold color scheme. Located at the end of the room was a large, lifted stage that simply had a podium, a row of chairs, a single microphone, and a large holographic screen upon it. Beacon's dual-axed crest was proudly hanging behind the ensemble on a large, flowing banner. As I continued to look around it became rather apparent that our little group must have been some of the last few students to enter, as the room was nothing short of completely packed. Naomi, Xion, and I looked at each other.

"Well, you two see anywhere we can stand with less people?" Xion asked, attempting to peer over the sea of people.

"What's the matter Xion? Not much of a people person?" I sarcastically stated.

"Not really." He quickly rebutted.

"Hmm... that corner over there only has a few people." Naomi spoke up, pointing over towards the back-right corner of the room.

"Any where's better than hear." Xion then playfully stormed off towards the relatively empty corner, Naomi and I swiftly followed.

While it did take an odd amount of time to reach the corner (as we had to fight the crowd to reach it), we eventually made it in one piece. Oddly enough, there were only around ten or so people in this area, one of which was oddly eye catching. From what I could tell, it seemed to be a girl. She was completely covered from head to toe with a thin white cloak, the only thing managing to peer through being that of an off grey pair of tennis shoes. She was hiding her face; however, I was able to see that she had short blonde hair that seemed to fade into a very light blue as it reached the ends. The girl seemed to be avoiding contact with other people, and she was emitting a rather cautious aura that was nothing short of sketchy.

"Hey." I whispered as we stopped in the corner. "You guys get an odd feeling from that girl, or is it just me?"

"Well... She does seem a bit mysterious." Naomi said as she tried to make it look like she wasn't staring. "What are your thoughts Xion?"

"Everyone has their reasons to act how they are." Xion responded with a rather serious tone. "I'd just let her be if I were you guys."

"You think we should say hi?" I asked.

"I mean, it couldn't hurt." Naomi continued.

"Look… I've stated my opinion, but if you guys insist on trying to introduce yourselves then I suppose the majority vote wins." Xion continued on, seeming to sound rather indifferent about the small ordeal.

"Well, fair enough I suppose." I said as I began to walk towards the cloaked girl, Naomi and Xion following close behind.

However, before I could even take a single step closer I was cut off by a sudden, ear-piercing screech that seemed to throw nearly everybody off of their feet. Naturally, I looked up to the stage, spotting Professor Ozpin standing at the microphone along with what I assumed to be other teachers. He tapped the microphone, cleared his throat, then began to speak.

"I'll... keep this brief." His voice was stern and calm. "You have traveled here today in search of knowledge, to hone your craft and acquire new skills. I can assume that once you have finished, you more than likely plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people and the world as we know it. But… I look amongst you and all I see is wasted energy in need of purpose... direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step."

He then simply walked off the stage without a single sound of applause. It was a rather ominous speech in all honesty, but something tells me that this was more than intentional. There was something about how this man spoke that simply made his words extremely sincere and honest, and I could honestly respect that.

"Well... that was interesting." Naomi whispered amongst the shocked crowd.

"Eh" Zion grunted "Sounded to me like he's said that a few too many times, sort of takes away from the effect to me." Xion added in, his arms atop his head as he leaned back, seemingly without a care in the world.

"Say what you want about it, but I can't help but think of it as sincere." I cut myself off as I remembered what we were doing before we were rightfully cut off. "Now, where was... umm." I tried looking around for the girl once more, but it seemed as if she was nowhere to be seen.

"Umm... where did she go?" Naomi added in, clearly making it obvious that she was just as curious.

"What, you guys actually still want to introduce yourselves?" Xion said in disbelief. "Seems pretty pointless to me."

"Oh, shut up." I lightly said. "There's nothing bad about trying to make friends. Now if only we knew where she went."

"You think she overheard us talking about her and walked away?" Naomi questioned.

"I hope not." I responded.

"I mean, you guys weren't exactly subtle, so I wouldn't be surprised if she did." Xion added in. "Why is this such a big deal to you two anyway?"

"I'm really not sure. Something about her... I just wanted to say hi." I pondered to myself for a proper reason, but this was all I could come up with. I went to say more, but was cut off my Naomi.

"Ooh, guys, we should probably be quiet, Glynda is about to speak!" Naomi smiled, her eyes seeming to light up as the teacher Naomi called 'Glynda' walked up to the microphone.

"Attention all first-year students. It is probably obvious to you that none of you have been assigned dorms yet. This is normal, as you will not receive a dorm until you pass initiation tomorrow. You must all report to the south Cliffside by 9 A.M. Any students who fail to meet this deadline will be disqualified from the course and sent home on the next airship out. Until then, you will all be resting here in the schools Great Hall. You have the remainder of the day to do as you wish. See you all tomorrow morning." She said, her voice very stern and solid.

The Main Hall's speakers then made a light hissing sound as they all powered down, all of the teachers walking away from the stage, and back into the school's interior. I immediately began looking for the cloaked girl once more, but she seemed to be nowhere to be found.

"Are you still trying to find that damn girl?" Xion grunted as if he was shocked.

"Yeah, you two mind helping me out?" I frustratingly asked as I used my height to my advantage to glance over the swarming crowd of people.

"Sure... but only if you tell us why you're so interested." Naomi asked, her hands placed firmly on her hips.

"I'm honestly not sure... I just have a gut feeling about her if that makes any sense." I sighed. "Do you two not think so?"

"Look man, I already told you she felt a bit off. If someone doesn't want to be talked to right now, it's clearly that g-" Xion was interrupted by a cold female voice emitting from behind us.

"I have my reasons." The voice almost hissed, the tone alone sending a chill down what I could assume was all of our spines. Naomi even let out a small "Eep" as we all turned to face the rather obvious source of the voice.

We all turned to very obviously be greeted by the girl with the white cloak. She was still attempting to hide her face, which she was surprisingly successful at doing as the hood of the cloak managed to cast a small shadow over her face, causing her to appear rather menacing. Other than that, the only thing I could really take note of was that her skin appeared to be rather pale, and she seemed every bit as tall as me.

"What do you three want with me?" She continued on, her piercing gaze seeming to cut through us.

"Umm... what do you mean?" Naomi responded.

"I could hear you three talking about me the entire time. What exactly do you want?" She asked, putting her hands behind her back as she waited for an answer.

"Well... umm... you just seemed, I don't know... different." I paused as I realized that what I said sounded rather negative "In a good way, obviously!" I put in a poor attempt to save myself from impending doom. However, her response was rather different than what I had expected.

"Hmm… And why exactly is that?" She slightly cocked her head from underneath her hood.

"I'm not too sure. I just wanted to say hi." I said, I could feel myself beginning to get nervous.

"Really now? Is that all?" She lightly giggled.

"Umm... yeah." I sloppily responded, very obviously choking.

"Well then, hello to you as well." Her voice was now oddly kind and sincere, and seemed to have a sense of regality to it. "Now, without further delay, I must find a place to sleep for the night."

"Wait!" I yelled out before she could walk off.

"What is it?" She responded, not turning back around to face the three of us.

"Well... what's your name?" I politely asked, not even sure if I would receive an answer. At first, I didn't receive a response, but instead it seemed that the girl stopped to think... or perhaps debate.

"Yeyrah. Yeyrah Delana." She responded as she quickly pulled down her hood to reveal an oddly cute pale face, two blue streaks with an odd texture seemed to rest under her eyes, which were a bright neon blue. Before I could really take on more of her appearance, she was gone. The three of us had to stand in silence for a few to really process what just happened.

"Well, did you get what you wanted?" Xion joked, tapping my shoulder.

"Umm... yes and no." I said.

"What else did you want to know?" Naomi asked.

"Again... I'm really not sure." I responded.

"Well, you got her name at least. Who knows, maybe you'll see her again." Xion once again tapped my shoulder, but this time it seemed as if he had a _different_ intent.

"Yeah, we have four years here at Beacon!" Naomi giggled.

"Yeah... yeah, you're right!" I laughed, putting my hand on the back of my head. "So, where do you guys think we should sleep for the night?" I asked, attempting to change the subject.

"Well, Glynda said that all first years will be sleeping in the Great Hall, so I'd say we already know where." Naomi pointed out.

"Hell, I've slept in far worse conditions!" Xion laughed as he stretched out his arms. "I guess it is starting to get rather late."

"Yeah, I suppose we should be changing into some pajamas then." Naomi giggled.

"Sounds like a plan. So, we all meet back here?"

"Yep, this exact spot." Naomi smiled.

"Alright then. See you all back here."

And with that said we all walked off to our appropriate changing rooms, laughing and making small talk all the way there.

* * *

I was walking back over to our agreed meeting spot with my clothes, armor, and weapon resting neatly in my arms. I could see that Xion had managed to beat me back, but Naomi was nowhere to be found. I walked up to Xion and sat on the floor next to him. Instead of his usual ensemble, he was now wearing a simple black t-shirt and a pair of very obviously worn-in jeans. His original outfit and clawed gauntlets were sitting in a messy pile next to him. I sat my clothes and armor at my side, then leaned EarthShaker up against the wall.

"So, I take it Naomi is still getting changed?" I asked as I placed my things down next to his.

"Well she sure as hell ain't here, so we can probably assume so." He smugly responded to my obvious question.

We were then plagued by a rather awkward silence as I began to roll out my bedroll. Admittedly, it made me rather uncomfortable, so I decided to blurt out the first thing that came to mind.

"So Xion, what's its name?" I asked.

"What?" He responded, his head physically tilting in confusion.

"Umm... your weapon I mean. What's its name?" I asked again.

"Oh!" He laughed, his tail beginning to comically wag. "That's Ashbringer. You've already seen what they can do. What about yours? Seems like a pretty heavy bastard if you ask me."

"Yeah, you ain't kidding." I chuckled in response. "It's called EarthShaker. He can be pretty unwieldy to some, but I think I've put in my fair share of practice with it"

"I can tell." He paused, his tail slowly beginning to pick up in pace. "Thanks for that by the way."

"Ah, don't mention it." I responded. "I couldn't just sit around and watch, those idiots shouldn't be picking fights with people anyway."

Xion and I then sat there for a little while longer exchanging small bits of information about our lives. I had to admit that it was rather peaceful and entertaining, but it still felt rather out of place without the rest of our little trio. Luckily, she was almost on cue as I began to have these thoughts, as I heard her cheerful voice echo throughout the vast room.

"Hey guys! Sorry I took so long! You wouldn't believe the line in the girls changing room right now!" She smiled as she pranced over. She was now sporting a light green night gown, and I had to admit that it suited her rather well. The gown seemed to bring out the color of her eyes, and the fact that she had decided to let down her surprisingly long hair didn't exactly help with my gawking. I'd be lying to myself if I said that she didn't looked adorable.

However, my staring must have been rather obvious, as I quickly received a swift jab to the shoulder from Xion.

"Hey! What was that for?" I grunted, already knowing the answer.

"You're staring her down pretty hard their man. I take it you see something you like?" He laughed.

"Shut up." I responded, unable to prevent myself from laughing.

Luckily the room was still loud enough to hide our conversation, as Naomi had finally reached us. She laid her clothes and ginormous pair of scissors next to our rather large stuff pile, then sat down to meet us.

"What's so funny you two?" She smiled.

"Ah... it's nothing." I responded, Xion lightly rolling his eyes in response.

"You sure? You two seemed to be laughing pretty hard just now." Naomi continued on as she leaned in closer to us.

"Like the man said, it was nothing..." Xion then paused as she shot me a rather sinister grin. "It's just that Odin was staring you down something fierce while you were walking over." He laughed.

"Shut it dog-brains!" I yelled out, playfully but seriously pushing him over to the ground as he began to literally roll around on the floor in an eruption of laughter.

"Oh, really now? Is that so?" Naomi raised an eyebrow as she began to stare what felt like directly into my soul.

"Uh... well... kind of." I choked to get the words out, and I could feel my cheeks turning red. However, the response I received was definitely not the one I expected.

"Well, I'm flattered." She giggled, which was both adorable and kind-hearted. I didn't know where to take the conversation from here, and I was admittedly still so embarrassed that I knew I just had to change the conversation.

"Come on guys. Let's just get some sleep. We have a big day tomorrow." I blurted in what I thought was a rather poor attempt to change the subject.

They both continued to giggle for a few more seconds, but they soon calmed down.

"Yeah, you're right. It's probably for the better if we get to sleep now." Naomi said.

"Alright, Alright. You two got a point I guess. See you two in the morning." Xion gave a rather unconvincing fake yawn as he pulled out his scroll, lying back onto his pile of clothes like a pillow.

"Well, g'night guys." Naomi giggled once more as she laid back onto the floor.

"Yeah, goodnight." And with that, the three of us all managed to drift off into a deep sleep, blind to exactly how big of a day we were actually about to have.


End file.
